Eidia. Ghosh. 4.20

The Opium Factory:

(I believe in my book, I am about 2 pages behind, so the passage numbering will be slightly off.)

"Deeti was about to step in when she glanced over the sirdar's shoulder, into the weighing shed: the sight made her pull back, with a sudden start of apprehension. Such was the length of the shed that the door at the far end looked like a distant pinprick of light, in between, arrayed along the floor, stood many gigantic pairs of scales, dwarfing the men around them; beside each set of scales sat a tall hatted Englishman, overseeing teams of weighmen and accountants. Buzzing busily around the sahibs were turbaned muharirs bearing armloads of paper and dhoti-clad serishtas with thick registers; swarming everywhere were gangs of bare-bodied boys carrying improbably tall stacks of poppy-flower wrappers." 

In this passage, there is a prominent dynamic of hierarchal elements, both animate and inanimate. The description of the scales, and the grandeur of the size, greatly seems to contrast the human form of the workers around them. Utilizing words such as "dwarfs" to describe the workers, and "gigantic" to describe the scales, Ghosh allots a greater power to the inanimate object. Along with the scales, which loom and tower over the workers, the animate, and the human capable of being an equivalent to the power of the scales is the "tall hatted Englishman". With this conjunction, Ghosh clearly presents the Englishman as the imperial being. Another key element to this power dynamic are the bare-bodied boys. Carrying the tall stacks of wrappers, these boys are providing the opium a sense of being covered, shelter and protection. The opium will be covered, but there boys are not, they lack clothing, they lack a sense of closure. 

The stacks of wrappers, the scales, and the hatted Englishman all enact a role of emphasizing the distribution of power. In this case, politically, it can be assumed that the lives of the Indians, during that specific time period were greatly dependent  upon the supervision of the English, presenting an aspect of English imperialism, and constant need to dictate and supervise the work and lives of the Indians. 

In addition to these details of the factory, there is the description of the shed, the length and darkness, and the tiny prick of light at the end. Perhaps, metaphorically, this imagery serves as a harbinger for Deeti. It can serve as a parallel to her life, the darkness of her marriage, the poverty of her household, and the degradation of her purity via rape; nonetheless, the prick of light can be emblematic of her forthcoming happiness and improvement upon her current situation.